Supervillain Soulmate

Chapter Six

Synchronising with your soulmate wasn't anywhere near as special as they said it would be. As a kid, Nora had imagined that it was like a wedding. Or at least, like a wedding proposal. She thought it would be a special, tender moment between the two soulmates that they would never forget.

In reality, it was just her and Cataclysm standing facing each other, forearms clasped so that their timers were touching face to face on their wrists.

"How long does it usually take?" Nora grumbled, having had enough of being so close to the Villain. Though he did have nice forearms, she had to give him that much. And his chest wasn't bad to look at either, though she wasn't sure how much of it was natural muscle and how much was built into his suit to make him look buff. Hero/villain padding had to be a thing, right?

"I don't know." Cataclysm grumbled back at her. "It's not like I've ever done this before." His hand was warm on her arm, grip tight but not painfully so. When Nora's eyes reached his face, her cheeks burned with the realisation that he'd been watching her the entire time.

"How much longer should we give it?" She asked, averting her gaze to somewhere over his shoulder. There was a window there, and she wondered whether she might be able to use it to escape if needed. Unfortunately the blind was down so she couldn't see what lay on the other side of it.

She'd barely finished the thought when Cataclysm was releasing her arm and flipping his hand over to check. Nora did the same and found that her timer had stopped fading and was now counting the seconds. They'd done it. They were synchronised.

"I'm going out." Cataclysm told her, "Don't try to leave."

"Where am I supposed to go?" She shot back, "In case you forgot my apartment is basically rubble because of you."

"Just ... stay here."

Nora watched as he headed to the door this time instead of using a cloud portal to leave as they had done to arrive. He didn't turn to look at her or say anything else, and as soon as the door was closed behind him she heard the beeping of a fancy programmable lock.

Great. Not that she would have been able to pick a conventional lock, but she at least could have tried? This fancy one would probably alert him as soon as she touched it.

With a sigh, Nora wondered what she'd gotten herself into and went to her room. Cataclysm was gone and she had no idea when he'd be back, so it was a good job she'd brought a couple books with her.

Fishing one out of her duffle bag, Nora went back to the lounge and sank into the same chair as before, this time slipping off her shoes and curling up. She got about thirty pages into the book before putting it down again and looking around.

What an idiot.

She'd been left all alone in Cataclysm's apartment. What better time was there than now to have a snoop about? Hopefully she could find out something useful, just in case.

There was nothing available to mark her page in the book, so Nora settled for turning it face down on the seat cushion instead of dog-earing the page and left it there while she rose to her feet.

Despite knowing that she was the only one there, she still felt the need to creep and left her shoes off so that her socks would muffle the sound of her footsteps. There was a door they'd walked past on the way in that he hadn't shown her, so that was where Nora headed to first.

Only to be thoroughly disappointed when the only thing inside it was a utility room. Inside were some washing machines, tumble dryers and even a chest freezer which was full of meat (yes, she looked) but nothing even remotely like the villain lair that she had been expecting.

Honestly, what kind of villain didn't even have a proper lair?

Pulling the door to with a soft click, she set about searching every inch of the apartment. To her complete and utter exasperation, none of the books or trinkets on the bookshelf opened a secret doorway. Though she did find a few books she hadn't read yet, and made a mental note to grab them later if she was going to be here long enough to actually read them.

There was nothing special about the kitchen either, other than the fact that it was absolutely massive, and pristine, and looked like it had barely been used. She wondered if Cataclysm was one of those 'buys take out because they don't know how to cook' types or if he was just some kind of neat freak.

The tv mounted above the fireplace also wasn't concealing a secret entrance, and pretty soon she'd searched the entire apartment including her own room, except for Cataclysm's bedroom.

She stood outside the door for a few long moments debating what to do, whether she could bring herself to violate his privacy or not until she remembered how easily he'd stepped in through the hole in her bedroom wall this morning and decided that she didn't care.

It was barely two steps across the hallway to get from her doorway to Cataclysm's. Wrapping her fingers around the handle, she braced for the door to be locked but to her complete surprise it clicked open and the door swung inwards.

Keeping a tight hold on the door, she peered into his room from the threshold, making no move to enter it just yet. It was tidier than any boys room she had ever seen before, which made her think that maybe he was just a really tidy guy.

His room was decorated in the same blacks and greys that the rest of his apartment was covered in. His bed was made and there didn't seem to be a single thing out of place. From the bedside table to the guitar resting on its stand by the window. Everything had a place where it belonged.

There was a door on the far wall, and it was the sight of this which finally made Nora step into his room. Dashing across his room, she pulled open the door and sagged in disappointment when it was just a boring walk-in closet.

Well, what a waste of time that had turned out to be. Making sure to close all of the doors and leave everything exactly where she'd found it, Nora reluctantly returned to the lounge. Other than the windows, which were useless as an escape in a high rise, there was no way out of the apartment except for the front door with the Fort Knox level security system.

With nothing left to do other than pace, Nora returned to her seat and picked up her book. She read until her stomach was growling violently and she remembered that she hadn't eaten all day. She hadn't even had chance to get some breakfast before her world had come crashing down.

The clock above the fireplace told her that it was almost six o'clock in the evening, and Cataclysm had been gone for most of the day. She decided to read until the end of her chapter, but when there was still no sign of Cataclysm anywhere, she put down her almost finished book and headed towards the kitchen.

Nora wasn't much of a cook, but she knew how to make enough basic meals that she liked to eat so she wouldn't starve. As long as there were enough ingredients in the fridge or the pantry she would be fine.

A soft gasp escaped her mouth as she opened the large fridge in the kitchen. It was absolutely rammed with food. Most of it looked fresh and healthy, too. Wow.

Did this guy rob banks for a living or what? Clearly he was doing something right in his life to be able to afford this lavish apartment and keep the fridge fully stocked like this. It took her a few moments to rifle through everything and decide what on earth she was going to make herself to eat. But by the time she had prepared, cooked and eaten it all, Cataclysm still hadn't returned.

She even tidied up the kitchen and stuffed everything she'd used in the dishwasher before returning to her armchair and falling back into her book, where she read until she fell asleep.